The Best of Tyler and East Texas

East Texas is blessed to have some of the best family owned restaurants. Most of these family run restaurants have been around for decades. It's refreshing to eat at a place that is lovingly built from families who care about serving the customer.

East Texas is rich with history. From the oil fields in Kilgore, to the beautiful roses that fill the Tyler Rose Garden. East Texans are proud of their heritage and it shows! It was difficult to choose from so many historical landmarks, so these are just a few of the highlights. Enjoy!

To help get a little zest for life we thought you would enjoy knowing our top five outdoor activities. East Texas is a vast area filled to the brim with breathtaking beauty. We know how Texans love to live large — so we have your next ultimate adventure.

East Texas is overflowing with fantastic soil and conditions perfect for growing grapes for wine. We are lucky enough to have a several wineries to visit. We compiled a list of places you may want to visit the next time you are up for an adventure.

The greater Tyler and Longview area only has one true dog park, but that doesn't mean there aren't plenty of places to hang out and play with your four-legged best friend(s)!

Through the generosity of many private citizens and business we are fortunate enough to have several parks and recreation areas to stop and unplug for a while.

They're on the air doing their best to sell us a car each and every day. We hear from them a lot near the end of the month, I'm talking about car dealer pitch men/women. Some are plain, some are loud and some are very creative at getting our attention. Here are our favorites in East Texas

This list is designed to help you in knowing where the best place to “go” is. If you happen to be at one of these establishments when mother nature calls, you can rest assured you will have a pleasant “experience.” No need to hold it when you have nice bathrooms like these!

Every town has its restaurants that make it famous. Between all the chain restaurants lie family owned staples of our neck of the woods that we couldn't live without. Not only is the food incredible, you're helping out local owners in our community. Check out this list of local gems.

It's a new year, which means another year full of birthdays and realizing just how fast your kids are growing up. And the older they get, the more extravagant they want their parties to be. And the more extravagant, the more money that you have to dish out to make your child happy. Well, we did some researching and found some of the best places to have birthday parties for your kids that will definitely please them, and your wallet.

We all know what it’s like to wake up early in the morning and need a big caffeine boost. But the big coffee chains like Starbucks and Einstein’s being so popular, it’s hard to get your quick cup of coffee in the morning because everyone decided to get coffee at the same time. But there are plenty of locally owned coffee shops that are just as good -- if not better -- than those big chain coffee shops